Shuffling the Deck: The Beginning of a Legend
by RobinII
Summary: Chapter 01: The beginning is the birth, so lets start off with The Jokers parents a very short while before the birth and The Jokers few moments out in the world!


The Joker: Shulffling the Deck: The History of The Joker  
  
Chapter 01: Laughing From the Inside  
  
Written by RobinII  
  
Email A1toC@aol.com  
  
  
  
Thunder crashed and lightning fell from the heavens as rained poured down, flooding the earth. As the vegitation drowned with the fury of god, there was an old station wagon roaring down the main highway heading towards its destination.  
  
Inside of the car was a couple strapped in the front seat. The man driving seemed nervous, tired, worried, and excited all at the same time. This man's name was Charles Napier, and sitting next to him was a woman with long curly brown hair, blue eyes, and a bright red face. She was grunting and screaming in extreme pain, holding her stomach, and gritting her teeth. This woman had a great figure until pregnancy reared its ugly head. Her name was Sara Napier, and if you havn't guessed yet, she is Charles' wife, and although she seemed to be in horrible pain, she was greatly anticipating the joy that would soon be coming into her life.  
  
The station wagon raced down the highway reaching its top speed of 90 mph. A sign began approaching above the car, but it was too dark to understand what it read. Just then, had apparently defied god himself by throwing a bolt of lightning on the town church. Luckily, nobody died in there, but it left many people with empty hearts, and troubled souls.The flash given by the lightning made the sign readable. It read "Gotham City Hospital: Exit 5 miles." And below it read "Arkham Asylum: 15 miles."  
  
The asylum had just been recently opened by a man named Amadeus Arkham. The asylum was once his mothers humungous house until she went insane. Now, he had decided to try to help his mother, as well as other people with the same conditions.  
  
"Can you believe it honey?!?! We're almost there! Just breathe deeply and slowly! Don't panic! DON'T PANIC!!!"  
  
"Would you shut the HELL UP?!?! You're not the one with a little DEMON inside of you!!!" Now, don't get Sara wrong, she is a really nice woman who would make a great mother for any child, but I don't think you would be very calm either if you had something growing inside your stomach.  
  
Ironically, the song "HELP!" by The Beatles seemed to be playing on the radio. The dial was set on 90.1 WJKR. Gothams best oldies. Oldies were Sara's favorite genre of music. Oldies always seemed to help her relax, although it didn't seem to be working now. The wind began picking up and its screaming could be heard over The Beatles cry for help. Another thunderous boom could be heard and the flash was far behind the station wagon which was now going well over its read top speed of 90 mph. The hospitals exit was now simply three miles away.  
  
"AAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!" Sara screamed as she began to clench her stomach even tighter. She looked at her husband and managed to crack a smile. They both began to look at eachother and you could literally feel the love that engulfed the car. "W. . .w. . .wh. . . what a blessing. . . heh heh. . . heh." She began laughing. And so did Charles. These two were the perfect couple. They could crack a joke during any situation. No matter how bad it may seem, they both always tried to look on the brighter side by making people laugh. It never always worked, but it was better than dealing with the tension. As their laughter began to cease, they both uttered "I love you. . ." Charles leaned over and kissed his wife softly on the lips. The passion was broklen when the baby began kicking wildly. There was a sign approaching that could be made out. It read "Gotham City Hospital: Exit next right." And, of course, below it, it read "Arkham Asylum: Exit 10 miles."  
  
The station wagon pulled off to the right and got off the exit ramp. The hospital could barely be seen. Usually, the hospital could be seen perfectly clear. There was a big red cross on the entrance and you could see in bright red letters, from a half mile away, that read "Ambulence Garage," but due to the storm, all that was noticable about the hospital were the lights. That were shimmering in the ugly dark. The car was being pushed well beyond its limit, and as the couple began to get closer to the hospital, the more a great fear had began growing inside of Charles. He doesn't know what or why he has this fear, but it scared him. He held his wifes hand. "It'll be okay," he said. "It'll be okay. . . it'll be okay. . . it'll be okay. . .," he kept saying to himself in his mind, but somehow the fear grew stronger. . . and stronger. . . and stronger. . .  
  
Five minutes later, the couple arrived at the hospital. The car came to a screeching halt. Charles lept out of the car and ran into the hospital. As he makes it inside, he is franticly dodging people as he is trying to make it to the desk. He just about makes it when he realized that he had left his wife outside in the car. He ran back outside to get her. She was already half way there, slowly walking towards the doors. Another bolt of lighting appeared, and even though it made a thunderous BOOM. . . The sounds of Sara's grunting and heavy breathing somehow managed to drown it out.  
  
They get back inside of the hospital, both drenched from the rain. People now noticed them and left them a clear path towards the front desk. "May I help you sir?" The receptionist calmly said.  
  
"MY WIFE IS HAVING A BABY!"  
  
"Okay sir, we'll take care of her. You go sit over there in the waiting room," the receptionist informed.  
  
"O. . . okay. . ." Charles nervously replied. He bagan to slowly move towards the waiting room, when he was hit with that fear had returned again. He walked into the waiting room and sat down next to a man calmly smoking. He sat there, quietly staring at the floor, with a pale expression on his face. Thinking. . . wondering. . . what this was this all about. What will life be like now? What will he name the baby? And why he can't seem to disperse this feeling of doubt?  
  
"Doctor Wayne! Doctor Thomas Wayne! You're needed at the front desk! Doctor Wayne! You are needed at the front desk!" The receptionists voice could be heard echoing throughout the hospital. Moments later, Doctor Wayne had appeared at the front desk. Charles saw his wife talking to the doctor and then being taken away in a wheelchair. Doctor Wayne began walking towards the waiting room. Charles stood back up and began walking towards the doctor. They both met at the entrance to the waiting room.  
  
Thomas Wayne was a well known man among the people of Gotham City. Infact, the whole Wayne family has been well known since the birth of Gotham. Thomas' great grandfather, Alan Wayne, was one of the enhabitants, of a population of around seventy, that helped top build and establish Gotham City. Thomas' father, Jack Wayne established an oil company a while back and was able to be a millionaire by the time he was twenty-six. He and his wife, Jaquelin gave birth to their one and only child, which they named Thomas.  
  
The entire Wayne family has been raised to be honest and to help people in any way they can, and to always do what is best by putting other peoples' saftey before themselves. Thomas always loved helping people out ever since he was able to play a part in saving his father's life by pulling him on to the sidewalk after being hit by a gangster in a car before being run over when it came back to finish the job. Ever since that life changing incident where he realized that life isn't always going to be full of happiness he made a vow to himself to help anybody who is hurt or in need of medical attention.  
  
"Hello Mr. Napier. My name is Thomas Wayne. I'll be delivering your baby. Your wife is in the emergency room getting ready. I have a few minutes, so I thought I would come in here to tell you that everything is going to be just fine. I've done this many times before. In fact, I even delivered my own son."  
  
"Y. . . y. . . yes I remember hearing about it in school, and on the television. How old is he now?" Charles asked.  
  
"He's seven years old now, going on eight."  
  
"What's his name?"  
  
"His names Bruce."  
  
"Bruce huh? T. . . t. . . that s. . . sounds. . . like a good name."  
  
"Thank you Mr. Napier. I'd better get going to the emergency room. I'll come tell you when you may see your child." Dr. Wayne began walking away, but then turned around. "Oh. . . one more thing. . ."  
  
"Yes?" Replied Charles  
  
"Congratulations Mr. Napier."  
  
"Thanks!" replied Mr. Napier with great enthusiasm, and with that last word spoken, Doctor Wayne made his exit, and once again. . . the fear began to engulf him.  
  
A voice had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "That Doctor Wayne is a great man! A great man. . ." It was the man that Charles had sat next to before Doctor Wayne had arrived.  
  
"He seems like it."  
  
"Oh he is. He delivered me an' my wifes first child. Oh shes grown up to be such a lovely little girl."  
  
"Really? Are you here for another child birth?"  
  
"Oh nononononono. . . my daughter broke her leg!" For some reason, they both found that amusing and they began to laugh. "Would ya like a cigar?"  
  
"Oh. Well. . . I don't usually smoke, but. . . what the hell!? You know?! This is a special occasion! So. . . SURE! Why not!?" The man handed the cigar to CHarles and he put it into his mouth.  
  
"Ya got to bite one of the ends of to I could lite it."  
  
"Oh. Sorry." He bites the cigar and spits the end into his hand. "Man that tasted disgusting!"  
  
"Ha ha ha! Here!" The man lit his lighter and raised it to the bitten end of the cigar. It lit a bright orange/red color and Charles began to smoke the cigar. Charles put his hand over his mouth and began coughing.  
  
"MMMMMmmFFFFFFfff!!! Kkhhhfff!!! Kkhhhfff!!! Kkhhhfff!!!" He was coughing for another five minutes. When he finally got ahold of himself he simply smiled, looked at the man and said "Damn that was ::Khff!!:: good! Heh heh heh. . ." They both began laughing again. The two men began talking and joking around for about an hour. When Charles realized something. . .  
  
"Ha ha ha ha ha!! Okayokayokayokayokay! I got one! I got one. So there were these three guys right? They had no food, money or anything. They've been wandering around for about a week when they come upon this farm house. The men knock on the door and ask the farmer if they could stray for a day or so. The farmer agrees.  
  
So, the farmer fed 'em and all that stuff. When night fell, the farmer told the guys that he only has one bed and that they would all have to bunk up together. The three guys agree. So they all fall asleep quickly.  
  
The next morning, they wake up and began talking. The first guy, who slept on the right side of the bed, says: Man! I had the strangest dream that somebody was jerking me off last night! The second guy, who slept on the left side of the bed, said: Really!? Me too! And the third guy, who slept in the middle, said: Really?! I dreamt that I was skiing!!!"  
  
"Ha ha ha ha!!!" The entire waiting room was echoing with the sound of their boastings and side-splitting laughs.  
  
"Oh! That was a good one!" praises the man.  
  
As Charles wipes the tears from his eyes he gives a quick nod of his head to say "Thanks." He takes one more deep breath to try and get all the giggles out, then starts to talk again. "My wife told me that one. Me and my wife always love to exchange any new jokes we here. No mater how dirty or stupid. We always try to make people laugh. Jokes can bring the most. . . most. . . depressing situation and just. . . shine a little light on it."  
  
A doctor came into the room telling the man that his daughter has the cast applied and that she was waiting at the entrance with her mom. The two friends give their farewells and Charles is left by himself in the quiet waiting room. Just then Charles was hit with a great realization. He knew what he was going to name his son. He kept thinking about his confrontation with his friend. "Joke. . . Joke. . ." He keeps thinking to himself. "Joke. . . Jake. . . Joke. . . Jake. . . Jake. . . JAKE!" He stands up and begins screaming "My baby's name is Jake! Napier!"  
  
He stood there stiff for a second, and thought to himself, "What if it's a girl? . . . . . . . . . . A HA! If it's a girl she'll be Jaquelin! Jaquelin Napier." He sat back down as exited as ever for Doctor Wayne to come back in and tell him it's okay to see his wife and child.  
  
Another hour went by and Charles was starting to get worried. That feeling returned again. This time he knew something was wrong. His eyes grew wide as he saw a large group of nurses running towards the area where his wife was sent. "Theres hundreds of rooms there. . ." He thought. "No way that could be Saras. No way! Somebody probably just died!" He started laughing at how stupid and evil that sounded, but not that happy laugh. No. This was a nervous laugh that people get when they are in a tense situation and don't know what to do.  
  
Horrible thoughts began running through Charles' head. Over and over and over again. They played back. Different situations. Same Ending. Poor Jack/Jaquelin would get to view the world and breath the air of freedom for mere minutes until the baby lays limply in its mothers arms. Sara hanging her head low crying harder than she had ever cried before. Tears flowing out of her eyes harder than the rain outside.  
  
A cold shiver went down Charles' spine. He looked up and saw Doctor Wayne walking towards him with a grimm expression on his face. He knew it. He just knew. He tried to stand up, but his legs felt like Jell-O. So he just sat there. Waiting for the news of his dead child to come to him. Waiting patiently for the horrible news.  
  
Doctor Wayne walked into the waiting room and towards Charles. Charles looked up at him as he began speaking.  
  
"Mr. Naper. You are now a father of a healthy boy." Charles stomach began doing flip flops and a smile crept over his face.  
  
"Mr. Napier. . ." Doctor Wayne continued, "Your Wife however. . . didn't make it."  
  
"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?" Charles' screaming could be heard from one end of the hospital to the other. The surprised shriek of surprising horror echoed throughout the hospitals halls.  
  
"Sh. . . sh. . . she's dead. . . NO THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!!! THIS ISN'T REAL!! THIS CAN'T BE!! YOR JOKING, YOU'VE GOT TO BE!!"  
  
"I wish I were Mr. Napier. We tried everything but we couldn't save her." But Doctor Waynes' words were drowned out. "She's dead. My wife. Jakes mother. Dead. . ." Tears ran down his face as the news dove deeper and deeper into Charles' heart. He refused to believe it though. He couldn't. They had a great future. Together. With those thoughts he ran off throught the hospital maze trying to find his wife. Forgetting Jake was even alive. He had to find her. He had to see for himself. He had to tell her he loved her once more.  
  
Jake Napier is moved into the room with the rest of the children for their parents to watch them. sitting around him were about fifty other children. He was laying directly in the middle. Jake doesn't know this and never will. It was his fault that his mother is dead. He refused to let go. Refused to be free. He held on inside. The doctors had to cut Sara open to get the baby out. Jake has quite a future ahead of him, but it seems quite obvious by now.  
  
The Joker has thought for years that Batman was the one who made him. Infact. It was the same with the other inmates, but when in truth it was the other way around. The Joker made Batman. Many years before either of them even knew of the others existance. In his first few moments out into the world, his actions for refusing to leave the safety of his mothers womb, his first "murder" will create Gothams Savior, The Batman, many years later, and in turn, create The Joker.  
  
To be continued in Shuffling the Deck: The History of The Joker Chapter 02 


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